Equity Brief: Ratings Changes for November 14th: HUBG, IAG, ICFI, JCP, KORS, LOW, MOS, MPC, MRVL

A number of stocks were upgraded and downgraded by equities research analysts today, as reported by Analyst Ratings Network (http://bit.ly/equitybriefdaily) and Equity Brief:

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Hub Group, Inc. HUBG from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. Robert W. Baird now has a $38.00 price target on the stock.

Macquarie downgraded shares of IAMGOLD Corp IAG from an outperform rating to a neutral rating.

SunTrust upgraded shares of ICF International, Inc. ICFI from a neutral rating to a buy rating.

Nomura gave shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. JCP a new $18.00 price target. They now have a neutral rating on the stock. They wrote, "Despite weak financial results, JCP is moving forward with its transformational strategy, albeit with some mid-course corrections. The hope is that as more shops are constructed, the company will gain more traction with customers. Based on our current estimates, which forecast a loss of $370MM in the first three qtrs of F13, JCP may need to draw on its revolver during the peak borrowing period (3Q). Although the company has plenty of capacity ($1.5BN), the need to borrow would not be a good signal to the market."

JPMorgan Chase downgraded shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. JCP from an overweight rating to a neutral rating. Their analysts now have a $20.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $30.00. They wrote, "We are downgrading JCPenney to Neutral from Overweight based on (1) more questions than answers on the long-term pricing/promotional structure (incentives, NOW Pricing, MSRP), (2) balance sheet composition increasingly unclear (WC vs. non-core asset sale drivers), and (3) lack of earnings support for potentially another year (JPM modeling $0.00 EPS in FY13 w/ risk if sales do not materialize)."

Nomura gave shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS a new $58.00 price target. They wrote, "FQ2 was another very strong quarter, w/ sales/EPS well above guidance. For FQ3, mgmt guided to mid-20s comp increase and EPS slightly below consensus, but we expect KOR to exceed guidance. Our F13E EPS goes from $1.51 to $1.61, F14E from $1.87 to $2.00. KORS has best momentum in our retail coverage. PT raised to $58, representing 29.1x our F14E EPS and 18.3x our F14E EBITDA, roughly equal to LULU multiples, although we expect KORS to grow sales/EPS at faster rate."

Oppenheimer raised its price target on shares of Lowe's (LOW) from $32.00 to $42.00. They have an outperform rating on the stock. They wrote, "We have for some time looked favorably on the potential for a US housing market recovery and hence better demand trends within the Home Improvement sector. Data suggest that our thesis is playing out well. We are increasingly of the view that Lowe's is likely to make for the better stock in 2013. An aggressive re-merchandising effort and a string of internal missteps have weighed on LOW results over the past several quarters. We are optimistic that with improving demand trends at its back, LOW is now approaching a positive fundamental turn. LOW shares have significantly underperformed those of Home Depot since late 2010. Our price target for LOW goes to $42 from $32 previously."

Canaccord Genuity downgraded shares of The Mosaic Company (MOS) from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $55.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $65.00.

Imperial Capital initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum (MPC). They issued an outperform rating on the stock and set a $64.00 price target.

UBS AG reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Marvell Technology Group (MRVL). They have a $9.00 price target on the stock.

Capital One downgraded shares of Northern Oil & Gas, Inc. (NOG) to a neutral rating.

Stay on top of analysts' coverage with Analyst Ratings Network's free daily email newsletter that provides a concise list of analysts' upgrades, downgrades and initiations. Register at http://bit.ly/equitybriefdaily

Content and Media Contact: newseditor@equitybrief.net